Jamal Murray buried a couple of clutch baskets down the stretch and sunk the game's last two free throws to keep the Detroit Pistons from staging a 27-point comeback win. The Denver Nuggets led by 27 points at the half after limiting Detroit to nine points in the first quarter, to Mike Malone's joy, but the Nuggets head coach was not happy his team skated through the second half, nearly losing the game.
Murray scored two big-time baskets in the last 50 seconds of regulation and buried two clutch freebies with Denver leading 93-92 with 9.1 seconds left.
“It was a great win,” said Murray, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post. “Let's not make it a downer.”
Malone couldn't disagree anymore.
“We have to be better than that,” said Malone. “Nine games to go. And if we want to be a real serious team, a dangerous team in the playoffs, we can’t piss away 27-point leads and almost lose it.”
The Nuggets led by 27 at the half and boasted an 18-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but their offense went dry in the second half, scoring 15 in the third quarter and 14 on the fourth — six of them coming from Murray in those last 50 seconds.
Detroit fought to stay in the game and muscled its way to several buckets, making it too close for comfort for Denver.
Malone said he told the players that consistency comes from each player looking within “and then having the courage to talk to the man next to you and get on each other. It's okay to hold each other accountable.”
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